Cross curricular learning in Music;

Cross curricular learning has great importance and allows new materials to be enriched within more than one subject, enhancing knowledge and skills across a wider curriculum.  Here, i will create links between music and other curricular areas.

FOCUS- Comprehension

One of the most important, symbolic links is through Literacy.  One of many examples of how this interlinks is through studying lyrics of a song.  A well-known song to the class, which may have been studied as a class, is the perfect opportunity to pick apart and unravel to introduce relevance, meaning and develop literacy skills.  By analysing lyrics to a song, the class are able to comprehend the meaning to each line and verse and create a clearer visual of what the song is expressing.  The class can split into table groups or mixed groups and given a verse each.  With poster paper in the middle of each table, the class have the chance to depict each word and explore its meaning and why the artist may have chosen that word.  They can illustrate this with pictures to help portray the meaning too.  The class will then collaborate and draw in all their analysis and together form the story to the lyrics of the song to work out where, why, when and how the author has created this piece.  Another connection with literacy would be through creating a sound picture or story based on their class novel.  A class novel should be engaging and gripping.  If the class are enthused and attached to the novel, this task will be enjoyable.

FOCUS- Awareness/ fitness/ fine motor skills

Another subject which interlinks is P.E/Dance.  The teacher can plan a sequence of lessons surrounding previous knowledge of rhythmic notation lengths which can be experimented with and manipulated through P.E.  With a loud instrument, the teacher can create different varying lengths of music which orders a clear instruction to the children; e.g jump, run, skip, walk. This will develop their fine motor skills within p.e and allows the children to enhance their fitness levels.  This can be developed and enhanced through instructions becoming small dance routines and eventually a real piece of music can be added and a collaborated dance can be created as a class.

FOCUS- Around the World

In Geography, the cross-curricular themes and activities would involve: Slavery and spiritual songs, folk music from different countries, exploring patterns, performing a song from Kenya.  This links to geography through locating different countries on a globe, the class collaboratively can use the IWB so identify areas and countries which may vary in musical tradition.  E.g The USA, Hungary, Ireland, and Mali.  The children would use this activity to prepare their following learning which is to recognise the differences in music and end with creating their own piece of music, either individually or in groups to present back to the class- a piece which represents them, their home, their environment and their childhood.

FOCUS- Weather

Another subject link is Geography where weather can be interpreted into musical knowledge. The class will get into groups and must use expressive words to describe different weather types, eg pitter patter, rumble for rain, wind, thunder.  This allows the children to combine their prior knowledge of musical sounds and how to express them with their understanding and knowledge of weather forms by correlating them to create an image/sound.

FOCUS- Environment

My final subject link is through science, where the cross-curricular themes and activities would be using:  The poem The tree in season, by Robert Fisher.  This allows the seasons of the year to be rehearsed and combined with global warming and its current impact on the world.  It also involves the water cycle and the arctic and antarctic and the effect of global warming on these regions.  This can be assessed by the children creating solutions and ways to prevent this.  The links to science are, how a tree changes through the seasons, looking at parts of a tree, seasonal changes and how water can change state.

Clearly, music can be an interdisciplinary subject which connects with a range of other subjects.